Human rights violations are the regime’s only means of survival

Last year, the Iranian people continued to witness the most violations of their rights by the Iranian regime.

In his report to the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council, Mr. Javaid Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, expressed concern and called on the Human Rights Council to pay special attention to human rights violations in Iran. Mr. Rehman based his report on news, and information available to him because the regime has not yet accepted his requests for a trip to Iran.
Mr. Rehman cited the high number of executions in Iran last year. According to him, at least 233 executions were officially reported by Iran’s officials last year. There have been no proper legal procedures for these executions. In particular, he noted the unfair trials of political prisoners Navid Afkari and Mostafa Salehi that led to their executions.
Also, Hedayat Abdullahpour, a Kurdish citizen (a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party), was executed on May 11, 2020 despite the lack of evidence against him. The regime tortured him to force him to false confessions. Most recently on February 28, four Arab men in Khuzestan, namely Jasem Heidari, Ali Khosraji, Hossein Silavi and Nasser Khafajian, were executed in Ahvaz.

According to Javaid Rehman, Iranian detainees are secretly imprisoned without access to a lawyer and in solitary confinement under torture and even water and food deprivation. Of course, Mr. Javaid Rehman’s report is only a tiny part of what the regime is doing in Iran because the number of people who have been executed secretly is much higher than the published figures. The following are some of the human rights violations in Iran:

Violation of freedom of expression and access to information

Last year, the Iranian regime continued to censor most social network platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, etc. Also, it prevented the dissemination of news by completely cutting off the Internet or disrupting connections in cities and towns in Iran, where widespread protests were taking place. The latest case was the disconnection of the Internet during recent protests in Sistan and Baluchestan Province in southeastern Iran. Also, by increasing the Internet subscription fee, the regime is trying to prevent people from having access to the Internet, so they become less informed of current news and developments. With widespread poverty among the majority of the people of Iran, many cannot afford access to the Internet.

Last year, several students who could not afford cellphones to continue their education online (because of school closure due to the outbreak of COVID-19) committed suicide, which drew public attention.

Suppression of writers and journalists

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